Saturday August 8, 2026
A $20 million road project in Hargeisa is moving forward under an agreement being signed by Somalia’s federal government for design and feasibility studies, with backing from the World Bank and other international partners.
Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing Minister Ayuub Ismail Yusuf said on Thursday that the wider project will cover roughly 45 kilometers of roads. Its initial 23-kilometer phase will begin in Hargeisa.
The first phase will also include construction of the Bundaweyn, or “Big Bridge,” in Hargeisa. The government estimates the initial phase will cost about $20 million.
Yusuf said the work falls under the Nagaad Project, a nationwide infrastructure initiative being implemented by the Ministry of Public Works across Somalia’s federal member states.
The minister said the federal government is currently supervising road projects totaling about 89 kilometers in Jubaland, South West, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland State and North Western State of Somalia.
He described the projects as part of a wider government effort to expand and upgrade Somalia’s economic infrastructure, including roads and other transportation links.
The World Bank and other international organizations are providing support for the Nagaad Project, which aims to strengthen infrastructure and connectivity across Somalia.
The Hargeisa plans are advancing amid Somalia’s longstanding political dispute with North Western State of Somalia. The region declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not won broad international recognition as a sovereign state, while Somalia’s federal government continues to consider North Western State of Somalia part of its territory.
